1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and terminal for receiving traffic information and a method and device for providing traffic information, and more particularly, to a method and device for encoding and providing traffic information and a method and terminal for decoding and outputting traffic information.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
As digital signal processing technologies and communication technologies have been increasingly developed and combined, radio-broadcast or TV-broadcast technology has been rapidly developed from analog broadcast technology to digital broadcast technology. In addition, data broadcast technology for broadcasting information related to daily life or broadcast programs through the digital broadcast technology has been developed.
Specifically, with the widespread use of vehicles throughout the world, the number of vehicles in urban or downtown areas, the number of people working for 5 day weeks, and the number of vehicles in rural districts are also rapidly increasing. Thus the necessity of informing drivers and others in the vehicles about traffic information is also increasing.
Due to the increasing need for the traffic information, radio broadcast programs from some radio broadcast stations provide the drivers with such traffic information according to a related art. However, it has a disadvantage in that it can provide the drivers with the traffic information only at specific times and thus the drivers cannot obtain the traffic information via the radio broadcast program at any time. Furthermore, traffic states or information changes in real time, but the above-mentioned radio broadcast stations cannot provide the drivers with correct traffic information varying with time.
In order to address the above-mentioned limitation, a variety of enterprises provide their subscribers with traffic information in real time through the terminals of the subscribers according to a related art. As a result, a variety of terminals, which are manufactured by different enterprises and have different functions, need to be able to commonly detect and analyze traffic information received via different digital broadcast channels and provide the users with the traffic information. Accordingly, a unified communication standard for transmitting/receiving the same signals (e.g., traffic information) between information providers and information users and analyzing the same signals is required.
In addition, all the received traffic information is decoded always in the users' terminals according to a related art. Thus, power may be unnecessarily consumed.
Furthermore, users who receive and use the traffic information may want to receive only necessary or certain traffic information. However, according to a related art, all the same traffic information is sent to all users and is decoded by their devices, regardless of the users' preferences to receive only certain portions of the traffic information.